Stress, absorptance and laser-induced damage threshold properties of 355-nm HR coatings

A number of 355-nm Al2O3/MgF2 high-reflectance (HR) coatings were prepared by electron-beam evaporation. The influences of the number of coating layers and deposition temperature on the 355-nm Al2O3/MgF2 HR coatings were investigated. The stress was measured by viewing the substrate deformation before and after coating deposition using an optical interferometer. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the samples was measured by a 355-nm Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of 8 ns. Transmittance and reflectance of the samples were measured by a Lambda 900 spectrometer. It was found that absorptance was the main reason to result in a low LIDT of 355-nm Al2O3/MgF2 HR coatings. The stress in Al2O3/MgF2 HR coatings played an unimportant role in the LIDT, although MgF2 is known to have high tensile stress.

Study of Al2O3/MgF2 HR coatings at 355 nm

With the present work we tried to study the effective methods to improve the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) and reflectance of HR coatings at 355 nm. The work presented in this paper wits part of an ongoing study about vacuum annealing. It was dedicated to study the effects Of Vacuum annealing with different temperature gradients on the structure, optical properties and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 355nm Al2O3/MgF2HR coatings. A number of samples were prepared by electron beam evaporation using the same deposition process with an optimal deposition temperature of 280 degrees C. After deposition, samples were annealed in the coating chamber for 3 h with different temperature gradients. Morphologies of the samples were observed by Leica-DMRXE. Microscope, Structure of the samples had been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Transmittance and reflectance of the samples were measured by Lambda 900 Spectrometer, The LIDT of the samples was measured by a 355 nm Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of 8 ns. It was found that the temperature gradient of vacuum annealing had significant effects on the morphology, structure, absorption, and LIDT of the samples, (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Overcoat dependence of laser-induced damage threshold of 355 nm HR coatings

A series of HR coatings, with and without overcoat, were prepared by electron beam evaporation using the same deposition process. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) was measured by a 355 nm Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of 8 ns. Damage morphologies of samples were observed by Leica-DMRXE Microscope. The stress was measured by viewing the substrate deformation before and after coatings deposition using an optical interferometer. Reflectance of the samples was measured by Lambda 900 Spectrometer. The theoretical results of electric field distributions of the samples were calculate by thin film design software (TFCalc). It was found that SiO2 overcoat had improved the LIDT greatly, while MgF2 overcoat had little effect on the LIDT because of its high stress in the HR coatings. The damage morphologies were different among HR coatings with and without overcoats. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Temperature fields of 355 nm HR coatings based on the interface absorption model

Temperature fields of 355 nm high-reflectance (HR) coatings were investigated based on the interface absorption model. It was found that the highest temperature in the HR coatings increased with an increase in the extinction coefficient of the interface A, B, C, Al2O3 and MgF2. The highest temperature of HR coatings that can be reached increased quickly with the increase in the extinction coefficient of interface A in particular. The temperature rises of 355 nm HR coatings at different layers and different deposition temperatures were investigated based on experiments also. The damage mechanism of 355 nm HR coatings was confirmed with temperature fields and the interface absorption model.